Monday, June 29, 2009

I was so excited to see this on someone's blog today, it is what I hope is the beginning of a movement in the Christian community that has been on my heart ever since we began our adoption journey.******************************************************Entire article below copied from the gender blog...

Jeff RobinsonJune 26, 2009

Messengers at the 2009 annual meeting of The Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution proposed by Russell D. Moore promoting adoption and orphan care.

The resolution encouraged every Southern Baptist family to pray about whether God wants them to adopt or provide foster care for a child or children. It also called on Southern Baptist and other evangelical churches to devote a Sunday each year to emphasize "our adoption in Christ and our common burden for the orphans of the world."

Moore, who serves as senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, knows well of which he proposed; Moore and his wife Maria adopted two of their sons from a Russian orphanage a few years ago.

Moore hopes the resolution will provoke deep thinking that leads to action among Southern Baptists regarding the Gospel significance of adoption and orphan care; all who are saved by God’s grace were once orphans who were adopted into the Kingdom of Christ.

The number of adoptions among evangelicals has steadily increased in recent years, yet the need is profound: in the United States alone, more than 500,000 children were in foster care system in 2005, the last year for which federal statistics were available. About 115,000 were waiting for adoption.

“Something is a foot among Christian families and churches of virtually every kind,” Moore said. “God is calling the people of Christ to see the face of Jesus in the faces of orphans in North America and around the world. Southern Baptists have affirmed our belief in the authority of Scripture, and the Bible tells us pure religion is defined by care for the fatherless.

“We’ve been defined by our commitment to evangelism, and there is no greater field is 'white unto harvest’ right now as children in orphanages, group homes, and the foster care system, children who don’t know a parent’s love and who don’t know the name of Jesus. When Satan wars against children, we should be the ones who have compassion on them, even as Jesus did and does.

Moore authored a deeply personal and compellingly theological book on adoption that was published in May by Crossway books, “Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families &Churches.” In it, Moore argues that the church should view the adoption of orphans as a crucial part of its mission precisely because God has adopted helpless sinners to be His sons.

“The resolution by itself isn’t going to spark an orphan care movement among Southern Baptists,” he said.“Neither is my book, and neither are a thousand manifestoes. Only the Holy Spirit can do that as local churches start to embrace a vision for orphan care.

“The resolution though was meant to prompt some questions. If one messenger in the Convention hall is moved to simply pray, ‘Lord, how would you have me minister to orphans?’ then the resolution is a success, in my view. If one pastor is prompted to ponder how he could preach on adoption, or lead a foster care ministry among his folks, then the work is starting.

During the introduction of the resolution, Moore appeared on stage with Timothy and Benjamin, the sons he and his wife adopted seven years ago. More than 8,000 messengers met the resolution and its unanimous passage with lengthy, enthusiastic applause.

“I was overwhelmed with emotion on the platform to see my sons, two little ex-orphans, looking out on a sea of yellow ballots as thousands of Southern Baptists affirmed that we want to be the people who love fatherless children,” he said.

“I realized that, in an alternative story, my boys would still be in an orphanage, not knowing even the name of Christ Jesus. But here they are, at the Southern Baptist Convention, calling by their very presence the world’s largest Protestant denomination to recognize there are hundreds of thousands of children as helpless and alone as they once were.

“My prayer is that twenty years from now there are thousands of Southern Baptist pastors, missionaries, and church leaders who started their lives as orphans, now preaching the gospel of God their Father.”

Thursday, June 25, 2009

I think we should bring back the word Sike, it was quicker than, I'm kidding!

If we brought it back then the people who signed a contract to buy our house could of just called and said, "Sike!"

Instead they had to say all these long sentences that essentially meant, Sike :)

The house is back on the market, I hope it sells quickly I'm so tired of cleaning in circles like a crazy person while Jack and Kylynn mess it back up quicker than I'm cleaning. I'm too uptight for this!

Do you want the best house in the world...it's for sale and for much less than what it's worth to me (apparently our realtor thought 2.5 million was too high of a price :)

We've been looking at house for a few months now (okay really two years, but we've been looking a lot in the last few months). I am sure that we were driving our realtor crazy.

"We'd like a house that we will both love and work for us for the rest of our lives"Ok, let me think...

"Also we like older homes that are unique, but not too unique. And it has to have a great yard, we love our yard. Oh yeah and a good neighborhood, not too much traffic or noise."

Sure, gotcha.

Turns out that we would make the decision purely on our gut instinct, which is just the way God made me. I can rarely put into words how I know which way I am to go, but when I am sure I am sure, my gut (the spirit leading) leads me. I had never heard of the neighborhood where "our" new house is located, but when I walked in it was like meeting Kyle for the first time, my heart was beating very fast, I was in love.

Kyle and I are blessed that when it comes to homes we never disagree, he felt the same way. So in the midst of laundry, packing for a cruise, cleaning, and appointments we made an offer on a house.

Our offer is contingent on selling our house, don't want to run the risk of owning two houses at once. So far it has been good and crazy. Who knew how many people would want to see our house, I thought we might have missed the selling window..we've had 2 to 3 visits per day. Let's just say I it is not easy on a 3 year old and a 1 year old to be expected to keep the house clean and not be able to be home playing most of the day. But the good news is, we had an offer made after only 24 hours. We still need to sign the papers and I know that there are a number of things that could go wrong, but if we continue down this path, we will have sold our first home and found our next one.

It has been a whirlwind, and we have from time to time looked at each other and said, is this the right decision? And we both feel at peace that this decision has been prayed over from the very beginning, always praying that God would open the correct doors, and close the wrong ones. So even though there may be a more "perfect" house out there, we will continue to walk through the doors that God opens and see what He has for us.

Monday, June 8, 2009

I used to read about God's people in the Bible, the Jewish people, and think what is wrong with those people, how can they be so disobedient, how can they have such little faith, they forget so quickly.

Now, I read it and it brings me comfort, because so often I have become exactly like the Jewish people in the Bible, doubting God just days after he performed a miracle in my life, or deciding I can really get through my days without Him because after all I'm busy and I'm pretty good at controlling my life.

If I was to walk you through our adoption story (most of which you can read throughout this blog) any fool would tell you God's hand was upon this journey. Every single thing we prayed for God took care of. It was as if He said, "Look, ALL I want from you is to obey Me, I will take care of EVERYTHING else." And He did.

So how is it that, every time the next thing comes up in this journey I can forget all I've learned and decide to take it upon myself to handle this problem.

Jack is doing great, he is healthy and thriving, he is walking, talking, and happy as can be. The only problem in his health now is his size, he is 15 months old now and according to the growth chart is the size of an average 7 month old. This is not entirely unexpected, after all he did have a cleft palate for the first 13 months of his life, has had his world turned upside down in the last six months, and was little when he was born. But being a mom, I find myself obsessing over this so-called problem (although the doctor does not even call it that), I take it upon my shoulders to fix it. I am constantly thinking about how much (or little as the case may be) food he's eaten, comparing him to every child his age we meet, and wondering if there is something I should be doing differently.

The other night I had worried myself into exhaustion as I lay in bed trying to sleep I felt like there was an elephant on my chest. I finally remembered who could actually take care of this situation and began to pray. The Lord spoke to me in a story to help me to see the situation more clearly, this is what He showed me.

I was walking in some kind of airport, carrying just enough baggage that I was able to do it, but was bent over under the weight, walking at a snail's pace. My heavenly father walked up to me and said, "May I please carry that baggage for you".

I responded without thinking, the way I've been trained to reply, "No, I can do it". "My dear daughter," he responded, "it would make Me glad if you would allow me to carry your baggage." "No" I said, "Look around us, there are people everywhere with way more baggage than me, go help those people, they really need You."

He smiled at me a loving smile without condemnation and said, "I am strong enough to carry all of my children's baggage, it is no trouble for Me." I ignored Him and kept walking, until something on the ground that I didn't see tripped me up. I fell to the ground, and once there was no longer able to get up. All the baggage was weighing me down and it was impossible to stand up with them draped all over my shoulders and back.

He walked over to me, picked up all my baggage one by one, then bent down and picked me up too. As we set off, I felt firmly grounded for the first time in weeks. The elephant was off my chest and peace filled me. I finally realized that indeed I could not do it all by myself and fell asleep safely in my Father's arms.

.

Unfortunately, I will again go and take that baggage back from the Lord, sure that I indeed need to be in control, but I remember that dream He gave me and I hand them back over and know that all I have to do is obey, He will take care of everything else.

Please pray for me that I do not allow Jack's height/weight to become my latest worry and also for Jack to eat well and grow to a healthy height and weight.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

We want to congratulate you on your three years of service in this position. Although your performance reviews have not all been positive, we are happy to report that we are overall pleased with your accomplishments in this position.

This position has not been easy, so you should feel proud of yourself for having survived three full years. We would like to encourage you that although there are over fifteen years of this position remaining, they will fly by as quickly as the first three. We hope that you now realize you are fully capable of successfully filling this position. Please remember you survived twenty seven hours of labor, nineteen months of nursing, countless hours of lost sleep, tears and frustration aplenty both on your and Kylynn's part. You should be proud of yourself that you succeeded in surviving these hard times and be encouraged in the future when more come your way.

Never forget that this position, though it can bring heartache, is perhaps the most greatly rewarded position available. The hugs, kisses, "I love yous", and giggles should be referenced when having a particularly difficult day. The rewards will change in the remaining years and sometimes may have seemed to disappear completely, but never forget the ultimate reward in your future: grandchildren.

Your role if done correctly will glorify the King and can draw others to Christ. Never forget who it is that you're working for and know that you can always call on Him, no matter what resource it is you are lacking at the moment. Raising children who love the Lord is the greatest accomplishment you will ever have and we continue to hope this for you and your family.

About Me

Adoption changed my life, made it better, sweeter. I hope I can share with you what I'm learning on this journey and give you courage, should you find yourself on that same journey. I'm a follower of Jesus, a wife to Kyle, and a mom to three beautiful children.